I get asked a lot of interesting questions.  The most interesting part is how many recur – very few are original.  The questions I get asked are usually prefaced by a few common introductions, such as, “Can I ask you a really stupid question?”  “I hope you don’t mind my asking this, but…”  But I love questions.  Because they open the lines of communication.  And that makes me happy.  And when momma is happy, everybody be happy.

And here are the winners:

1. If God is all-powerful, why do bad things happen to good people?

Note:  this questions appears in various forms and may be hard to discern under the alias.  Like, why are bad things happening to me?  Am I being punished?  Am I truly that bad?

Answer: I do not answer this question unless it’s in person; I have time to transmit the ideas I’ve learned in full; and I know the people I am talking to and what their questions really are.

2. Is that your hair sticking out from under your hat?

Answer: if you see it, it’s not my hair.  It’s my wig!

3. How do you have time for everything?

Answer: I don’t.  But I will not compromise on my sleep (though I do suffer from insomnia) or on household help.  Also I really insist on my kids’ help in accepting responsibility around the house.  Also, my husband is an amazing help.  Also, I believe that God helps me because He wants me to succeed.

4. How do you remember all your kids’ birthdays and appointments and activities?

Answer: God gifted me with a good memory and an organized orientation.  Also, my Droid.

5. Do you guys speak Hebrew at home?

Answer: no, English is my first language and that’s what we speak at home.  Although I confess, it IS liberally sprinkled with Hebrew and Yiddish references.

Example: Come here!  Let me wash your henties (hands, Yiddish).  Oy!  You’re so cute I could just plotz (pass out, Yiddish)!!

6.  How do you have three teenagers?  You look so young.

Answer:  Can you ask me that again?  I didn’t hear you the first time.
Real answer: Exercise and good genes.
Real answer, for real: I am so young.  I got started young!

7.  Were you Orthodox your whole life?

Note: I always wonder here, what the “right” answer is.  Are people hoping to hear “yes” or “no”?  Do I present as an FFB or a BT?  Does it matter?

Answer: yup.  But that doesn’t make me a blind follower.  It’s always been important to me to ask tough questions and make intellectual sense of that with which I’ve been raised.  The more I probe, the more I love.

8. Are you Chassidic?

Answer: no.

9.  Are you Amish?

Answer: no.

10.  Are you Chabad?

Answer: no.

Note: if you are Chassidic, Amish, or Chabad, I’d love to hear from you for a future post.

What questions have been posed to you about your Judaism?